'THE BIG GOODBYE'.....'CHINATOWN' - A STATE OF MIND AND A MOVIE......

The Big Goodbye: Chinatown and The Last Years Of Hollywood by Sam Wasson (2020)

              A more aptly titled book you'll never find.......since the creation and release of "Chinatown" in 1974 stands as a milepost marker for a Hollywood in transition.........

               The old studio system that flourished through the 30's, 40's and 50's was in its last gasping crumbling disarray.......films driven by characters and stories were soon to be replaced by mass appeal blockbusters opening in every neighborhood theater on the same day......the studios themselves were gobbled up by conglomerates,.........

               ......and the conglomerates didn't hunger for good movies,....seeing only the bottom line, they hungered for only for cash.......

                That's what makes this incisive, fly-on-the-wall account of "Chinatown"s birth all the more fascinating.......the artistic chaos and turmoil that surrounded its conception is a jaw dropping tour through the reality of filmmaking. 

                  If you look at the end result, by viewing the movie after reading this book, you might come away from it thinking classic movies are like lightning strikes.........random, spectacular miracles that can never be duplicated.

                  The story comes fully equipped with an unforgettable cast of characters.........the master screenwriter/script-doctor Robert Towne, whose initial overlong drafts of "Chinatown" were teeming with a myriad of subplots and characters.......the young, volatile Robert Evans, the most unlikely of Paramount studio chiefs.......freshly minted superstar Jack Nicholson.......and the brilliant but soon to  be pariah Roman Polanski, who imposed his own dark history and worldview on Towne's vision of
corruption and evil in Los Angeles.

                  Author Wasson digs deep here and uncovers a treasure trove of revelations......that Towne relied on an uncredited 'ghost screenwriter' to complete the script.......that Jerry Goldsmith's superb moody score was a last minute addition after the film's original score was deemed too strange and dissonant........we'll say no more - the rest of these stories you should discover yourself.

                  Told with an expansive overview of a film industry about to experience earthshaking convulsions, "The Big Goodbye" is one of BQ's best reads of the year........even if you're not a hardcore film buff.  Like "Chinatown" itself, a great story, well told. 4 stars (****).